It turns out that getting the proper amount of sleep each night is perhaps the number one thing we can do to live longer and healthier lives. More studies showing the consequences to lack of sleep continue to appear. And it is also looking like sleep depravation can not be made up at a future date. The damage is done.
Our modern world in general is a very sleep deprived society. Everyone seems to be very stressed out which seems to contribute to the problem. The average night's sleep has decreased from about nine hours in 1910 to about 7.5 hours in 1975, a trend that continues. More than half of people over 50 complain about not getting enough quality sleep. If things are busy at work the first thing that we often sacrifice is our sleep time.
If we don’t sleep the body and mind has no chance to heal. Our body’s hormonal system will get completely out of balance. Food will not digest properly. The brain and all cognition will suffer immediately. Lack of sleep is even being shown to contribute to cardiovascular disease. Cutting back from the standard eight down to four hours of sleep each night produces striking changes in glucose tolerance and endocrine function, changes that resemble the effects of advanced age or the early stages of diabetes, after less than one week.
Try to stay away from pharmaceutical drugs. There are effective natural sleep aids such as melatonin, valerian root, hops, and others. Sometimes a combination of some of these natural substances works very well together. The bottom line is that whatever it takes, meditation, message, melatonin, or a natural sleep aid you need to find what works for you. Don’t just accept the lack of sleep as normal. There are effective sleeping aids on the market that can help.
